Robot vacuums or robovacs are nothing less than a feat of engineering that has improved drastically over the years. Even a basic bot can keep your floors tidy with little effort on your part. Thanks to bigger batteries and brains, these machines don’t get tired of doing their job. What distinguishes a basic robovac from something like Dreame X40 Ultra is tech chops. We have been using the device for slightly over two weeks and it has managed to handle pet hair and dust adeptly.

The X40 Ultra is not inexpensive, but if you are looking for a machine that can clean the house — and not just promise to do so — there are few equally impressive alternatives. Why so? The usual problem with robovacs is simple — the machine is round while the corners of our rooms are squared off, so it is difficult for a robovac to clean corners. X40 Ultra has solved the problem with an extending side brush arm to reach corners, and its dual oscillating mop pads are more effective than on most machines. The machine is especially helpful if you have a mix of carpeted rooms and hardwood floors.

Packaging and installation

The X40 Ultra is well packaged and easy to assemble. The box includes a detachable cable, a cleaning brush for both the washboard and the vacuum itself, and a bottle of cleaning solution for the base station inside. The mop pads are magnetic; you slap those on.

The docking station for Dreame X40 Ultra (left) and the magnetic mops on the underside of the robovac

You need to download the Dreamehome app to get the machine started. It’s straightforward — scan the QR code on the machine and make sure your phone and your machine are on the same Wi-Fi network. Once it’s connected, there could be a software update. I had to wait around five minutes to get the update. And then you are in business. There’s a plethora of features in the app, including a camera to keep track of things.

A robot that cleans

The suction power has been increased to 12,000Pa. It is now packed with even more advanced tech to keep your home dirt-free and floors looking spotless while minimising the need to intervene.

Some of the innovative features include side reach and mop extension, using RoboSwing technology. I have not seen the side reach and mop extend technology on robot cleaners work as seamlessly as on the machine from Dreame.

The company has engineered a brush that extends into corners as it passes by. This effectively pulls the dirt out of the corner and under the X40 Ultra, so it gets sucked up. Further, it will extend when there is a narrow space under a piece of furniture or a cabinet to reach as far as possible. Similar to side reach, the mop extender RoboSwing technology is to mopping what the ‘side reach’ is to dirt. It also mops closely around table legs and furniture pieces.

Why stop there when you can “lift” the cleaning accessories to improve mobility and speed, and completely separate wet from dry dirt? The mop lifts to avoid getting your carpets and rugs wet. The main roller brush and swing-out side brush lift to prevent cross-contamination between dry and wet messes. The mop pads can raise themselves an impressive 10 mm, and if that wasn’t enough, the X40 Ultra can detach the mops automatically and leave them at the base station to separate the vacuuming from the mopping.

(Left) Tanks for collecting dirty water and storing clean water; the dust collection compartment on the robovac

All the technology on the machine helps reach under appliances like refrigerators, standing ovens and under furniture, like couches and chairs. I like how this can hug the edge of stools and chairs in the dining area when other mops miss by around an inch.

No cross-contamination

Among its strongest features is how the machine lifts the main brush and also the side brush when it approaches a wet mess, so that it’s not sucking up the water into the vacuum compartment and spreading the mess even further. This is important when making transitioning between a hard floor and a carpeted area. It is able to lift up the side brush and the mops, ensuring it doesn’t cross-contaminate and stain the rugs when you go from the hard floors over to the rugs.

The suction power is perfect for any household. It doesn’t matter what the vacuum cleaner comes up against — it’s always able to clean the mess, whether it’s oatmeal on the hardwood floor or coffee beans on the tile floor or just a random mess on the carpet.

There are plenty of robovacs that do a good job vacuuming hard surfaces but the X40 Ultra excels in vacuuming carpeted areas. It can automatically boost suction when it detects a carpet; it can vacuum carpeted areas twice at a slower speed to ensure debris gets collected.

Spoilt for choice

The X40 Ultra has AI-powered obstacle detection. At times, it got tripped up by an occasional pencil lying on the floor, but mostly it got the floor mapping right.

There are plenty of customisation options when it comes to the cleaning mode within the application but you do have a “genius” mode where the AI can detect the soil level on carpets and hard floors. The camera can identify heavy stains and automatically lift the side brush while reducing mopping speed for a thorough cleaning.

TriCut brush and base station

Perhaps the best feature is the TriCut brush. Most robovacs collect hair on the roller, which nobody wants to clean. At home, there is a cat who sheds all the time. The machine from Dream can take care of the hair she leaves behind. The TriCut brush ensures there is almost no hair wrapping around this brush, thanks to the hair shredding technology, that is, it “cuts” and removes strands.

The Dreamehome app controls the machine

With the base station packed with technology, I didn’t have to do anything more than empty out the dirty water tank and refill the clean water tank every few days. The dirt collection bag is big enough to take care of the dust collected over at least four or five weeks.

The base station features washboard and mop cleaning. The machine warms up water and then cleans the mops, besides air drying them. I didn’t notice a musty odour or moulding.

Make the call

The robovac comes with a camera and there is a Lidar sensor to map rooms accurately. What could have been better is more features in the app, which is a bit slow.

Overall, Dreame X40 Ultra allows plenty of control and it can deep clean all kinds of flooring. The brush and roller seem particularly resistant to getting clogged with hair. It’s the dust Terminator you may have been waiting for.

At a glance

Device: Dreame X40 Ultra

Price: ₹87,999

High notes

• Excellent mapping and navigation with Lidar technology

• Self-removing mop pads

• Mop extension reaches under furniture and hard-to-reach places

• Self-cleaning washboard

• Dirt detection tech

Muffled notes

• Slightly expensive

• App response could have been snappier